So I’ve toyed around with starting a “Pinterest to Realist” series here since we’re doing so many DIY for our wedding in t-minus 3 weeks and counting! Yikes! We’re having a desert table with a variety of pot-luck-style deserts (my Portland friends have graciously agreed to make a plate full of goodies each). Which means I have to figure out how to display that many deserts! I saw this on etsy:

Fresh Pastry Stand has some amazing pieces – her stuff is just gorgeous!

And instantly wanted one but on our small budget just couldn’t afford the price tag on this beautiful piece so I started on my journey to making one of my own. But if you don’t have the 30 minutes + thrifting time to do the project than by all means just buy one of the pre-made pieces from Fresh Pastry Stand on etsy.

Materials List:

3 x vintage plates in 3 sizes from your local thrift store (we got all of ours from the bins for a whooping $2.50)

Masking tape or painting tape

ruler

Instructions:

Make and X in the middle of the plates with your masking tape (to reinforce when you drill)

Measure your plate and mark a dot for the center on your blue tape

Drill a hole with your ceramic drill bit. Using a teaspoon of water once the hole is started helps keep temp down and helps the drill bit grip. I drilled on my lawn so the bit could go through and not ruin anything but it still allowed the plate to be supported.

See? Easy Peasy. We didn’t bother with matching plates to carefully because we had collected a few florals plates for the desert table and I only belated decided to try this. I’m so pleased with how it looks though! Especially my little 70s one.

Ok – so I confess, I didn’t have time to do the Fashion Friday shoot this week. Plus, my photographer is gone for the week (Europe – lucky gal). So I did something a little like Wednesday Wants: I collected a spattering of cool summer inspired boys items both clothing and toys. I’ll share with you my favorite boy clothing items, since it is Fashion Friday.

Riding a bike always reminds me of summer. Something about the feeling of the wind in your face, and feeling like a free spirit. Both of these items are perfect for summer.

riding a bike always reminds me of summer.

make sure to check out her other cute shirts. it was a toss between this one and amo.

This shirt reminds me of wearing an aquarium, which I have this deep excitement to take Jax to one. He’s always enthralled with fish tanks whenever we see them.

This would be perfect for the beach, not to mention the fact that I love stripes.

And of course you’ll need this for the beach when you go there:

I’m not sure why, but I’m really digging sharks as a fashion trend for little boys this summer. Maybe that’s always the case.

Make sure to check out all of the other cute etsy summer items I choose on our list. There are lot of cute items out there that are made with love, and by hand.

So all of you probably know that my wedding is coming up in August which means I have to start thinking of clearing up my skin . . . now! As a biologist and avid outdoorer (yeah that’s a word as of now), I haven’t taken great care of my skin which means that I have premature wrinkles and sun spots galore (the harsh Arizona sun just isn’t kind to teenagers that neglect to put on sunscreen religiously). But a couple of years back I found this aspirin-lemon mask and I just LOVE it. I wasn’t sure if it actually was doing anything for my skin so I decided to try a little experiment (typical biologist right?) and took some “before” and “after” photos of the mask.

I didn’t alter the pictures or have makeup on so you get to see my redness and flaws in all their glory ;)

OK so I LOOK friendlier on the left because I’m smiling but I feel like my SKIN looks much nicer on the right after the mask.

I don’t know if I’m just looking for changes but to me it looks like the mask significantly helped reduce the redness (which makes sense because aspirin is an anti-inflammatory medication) and even out my skin tone. Yay! I don’t know, am I crazy? or do you see it too? So here’s my routine for this mini-facial at home.

steam face for 10 minutes (I do this over a gently boiling pot of hot water with a towel over my head)

mix 6 uncoated aspirin with about 1 tsp of lemon juice mixed into a paste (I squeeze lemon onto the pills drop by drop until I have a slightly runny paste) – if you don’t have enough paste just add more aspirin and lemon juice until you’re satisfied.

add aspirin and some lemon and you’re done!

apply paste to face evenly (it will burn a bit)

wait about 10 minutes then remove the face mask by dipping a cotton round in some baking soda and some water and use the little pad as an exfoliator (or just use wet finger tips and the aspirin left on your face)

moisturize with 100% argan oil

You’re skin feels so smooth afterwards. So here’s the science behind it. Aspirin contains acetylsalicylic acid (an anti-inflammatory) which breaks down to salicylic acid (phenolic acid and a beta hydroxy acid – recognize those from your fancy facial lotions?) and acts like a chemical peel. The lemon juice has Vitamin C (and is acidic to boot) which helps minimize sun damage and reduce those pesky sun spots. So in brief, this is one of those homemade masks that probably does actually help with redness and reduction of sunspots as the ingredients target those exact maladies.

I’ll be doing this at least 3 times a week until my wedding but I’ve read online that people do it everyday. I imagine it just depends on the sensitivity of your skin but I’m loving it so far.

Like this:

So we’re all prepping for fabulous Easter Sundays and that means having some fabulous Easter decorations.

Here are some of the best DIY from the blog world:

Pastel colored glass

Use the colors of spring to inspire your table settings, or if you’re having a hard time visualizing go to Inspiration Home for ideas!

Pastel tables with tulips

Of course Martha also usually has some great picks . Did you notice the bowls filled with jellybeans, grapes, and lemon drops? I like the idea of mixed jelly beans as center pieces too!

Monochromed egg basket center piece with a touch of pussy willow.

For an eye catching center piece put those dyed eggs to good use by making a monochromed egg basket center piece in the color you choose (Digs Digs actually has many ideas). Or if your going eclectic and colorful mix all the colors together.

Plastic Easter Eggs into toy teacups!

Don’t leave the littles out! Their table can be so cute and a little “Alice and Wonderland-y” with these cute toy teacups and some large flowers for the back of chairs!

Large paper flowers hung on the backs of chairs

Paint sample Easter Egg Garland

If you’re pressed for time to decorate just drop by the hardware store and steal a few paint sample cards to string together this cute Easter Egg garland in your house.

Cupcake wrapper wreath! So clever!

Most of us hardly have time to make an egg wreath at this point but this easy cupcake wrapper wreath is SO cute and SO cheap!

Hope these quickies help anyone whose been lagging on the decoration front!

As a child one of my most favorite memories for Easter Sunday was dying the eggs the week before and then hunting for them in the house on Easter morning. Our mom was always so creative when it came to the holidays and had the BEST Easter baskets, made fabulous oven baked french toast, and hid our Easter eggs in the most secretive of places (I remember finding one in our pool table pockets!). So I decided that this weekend I’d post some DIY eggs from the blog world to reeve the kiddies up for a great and creative holiday.

These two egg decorating methods employ the same technique found at Martha Stewart but just different papers! Or cut little pieces from paper that inspires you and don’t cover the entire egg.

No-dye easter eggs with double-sided tape and glitter!

Do the polka dots above or cool stripes like these!

Try out some of these no-dye egg decorating ideas from Better Homes I like the double-sided adhesive strips cut into pretty designs and then dipped in glitter!

Glitter eggs from Martha for decoration

Speaking of glitter – make these pretty decorative eggs from Martha Stewarts again.

Crayon art eggs!

Psyanky-eggs

These pretty as can be eggs also use similar techniques through creating designs with wax and then dying or leaving. The top uses simple crayons on hot eggs to produce pretty colors on eggs (remember you can use a white crayon to draw pictures and also words on eggs before dying as well). The bottom picture is an old Ukranian method using hot candle wax to draw designs before dying the egg.

Hand paint your already dyed eggs.

Chalkboard paint eggs

Hand paint eggs after dying with water-based acrylic colors special for eggs – I love the polka dot one! Or redecorate again and again with chalkboard paint eggs (use colored chalk too!). You could also use these as place settings at an Easter party.

And the biggest trend to hit easter egg dying this year . . . silk tie-dye eggs. So pretty!

If you’ve been on pinterest at all you’ve probably seen these beauties around. Silk tie -dying. What a good way to reuse unwanted ties.

Real chocolate eggs!

And last but not least . . . why not make real chocolate filled eggs by following Martha’s directions?

Now that the creativity is flowing go and visit our pinterest Easter board for even more ideas on egg decorating!